and a former economist for vice president joe biden. and of course nbc's luke russert. luke, i'm starting with you. we just got a statement from speaker boehner and the house leaders. and shock. they are putting it back on the senate. tell us about the statement and where it's going from here. >> it's a fascinating ping-pong match right now. but really with the senate, john boehner, eric cantor with mccarthy and morris are saying is there are two bills the house passed to deal with the fiscal cliff that are now over the united states senate. if the senate wants to do anything with them, amend them and send them back to the house and perhaps the house will act on it. essentially what boehner is saying is we're not making any moves until the senate amends the two bills we passed over or sends a new one. what are in those bills? well, they essentially extend the bush tax cuts permanently for all earners. and then to avert the sequester and other types of cuts, they make what a lot of liberals have called draconian cuts to meals on wheels, food stamps. it goes into discreti